The Cursed Prince's Strange Bride

On hearing that Tyra had told Susan she had said the exact words to her, Alicia looked at Susan in confusion. What was happening? Had she remembered it wrongly?

"She told you I said that?" Alicia asked with a confused frown, and Susan pressed her lips together when Harold shot her a glare.

Seeing that Susan was not going to say anything else because she feared Harold, Alicia rose from there and walked slowly to where Harold was. When she noticed he was standing up too, she shook her head, telling him to remain there.

Harold could do nothing but look at her skeptically as she tried to ignore the faint pain under her feet and walk toward him.

When she got to where he was, she sat down on the rock beside him and began to speak slowly, "Can you at least fill me in on my day? Everything I did during the day before that night?" She asked hopefully, and Harold's brows drew together in concern.

"Don't worry. I will be fine, I just need answers. I don't like feeling like I'm missing memories, and something tells me the memories are important. Did I speak with Harvey yet?" She asked, and Harvey, who was seated away from them, glanced at her, as did everyone else who was wondering why she needed to speak with Harvey.

Paulina, on the other hand, looked at the others in confusion as she wondered why they were staring at Alicia and Harold so intently when they couldn't even hear what the couple were discussing silently.

Harold looked away from Alicia to the rest of the group since he knew they could all hear her even though she was speaking quietly for his ears alone.

"Let's talk about it later," Harold said, and Alicia shook her head, not understanding why he wasn't answering any of her questions.

"Why later? It's not like we are doing anything else right now. Don't you need answers too? I'm sure you also want to know whether or not I did it..."

"I know you did not do it," Harold said, and Alicia frowned.

He couldn't even be mad at her right now since he was just relieved that she was back to her usual stubborn self.

"How are you so sure about that? What if it's like what happened the other time?" Alicia asked, and Harold gritted his teeth in frustration since he knew they were all listening and were looking at them with curiosity, wondering what happened the other time.

Although Alvin understood what she was talking about, he was just as curious as the rest of the group to know what was going on with Alicia.

"You told me so," Harold said with forced patience, and seeing that she wasn't going to stop pestering him until they talked about it, he stood up and offered her his hand. When she gave him a questioning look, he said, "Let's go for a walk."

That made her even more confused. Why did they have to go for a walk?

But she didn't question it. She reached out to hold his hand and he helped her up, making sure to walk at her pace as they went closer to the lake.

As they walked away from the others, Alvin stood up and followed them from a safe distance.

"When did I tell you that I did not do it?" Alicia asked him.

"When you were sleeping."

"If I was sleeping, how did I tell you that?" She asked with a slight frown.

"You don't remember anything about the conversation we had with Harvey?" Harold asked, and she shook her head.

"I don't. I had some flashes like I spoke with him, but I can't remember it clearly," she said, and Harold sighed.

How was he supposed to explain what had transpired and how she had spoken in his head if she didn't remember the part about Amber coming from a lineage of witches?

When they were far enough away from the others, he stopped walking and found a spot beside the lake where she could sit. Once they were seated, he looked at her and asked, "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Can you tell me all that happened on the day of the banquet? All I did?" She asked, and Harold gave her a nod.

"You didn't do much. You came for breakfast as usual, and I escorted you back to your chamber after breakfast..."

"What happened during breakfast?" Alicia asked curiously since she knew that breakfast was usually eventful, especially now that there were more people around who had come for the banquet.

"It was nothing serious," Harold said but went on to fill her in on the details since it seemed important to her.

"Typical you," Alicia said with an amused smile when Harold told her how he had left the dining room with her after getting angry at Sir Gregory for implying that she should teach his maids how to prepare the snacks, instead of his wife.

"I will never let anyone get away with insulting you," Harold said with a serious expression in his eyes as he reached to brush some strands of hair away from her face while maintaining eye contact with her.

She held his gaze before putting her head down, smiling a little. Well, she wouldn't deny that his words made her heart flutter and gave her butterflies.

"I... think I know that," Alicia said as she raised her head to look at him.

"Good. You should always remember it." He said in a serious tone before gently tapping her cheek and with a concerned look, he asked, "Are you cold? Why is your face so red?"

Alicia stilled for a moment before it dawned on her what she was talking about. She laughed awkwardly as she slapped his hand away.

"I am fine," she said with a laugh. Sometimes, she seemed to forget how naive Harold was.

He seemed to not believe her, and so she cleared her throat, returning to seriousness as she asked, "So what else happened? Did I hang out with Princess Tyra and Susan?"

Harold still looked at her with concern before he shook his head.

"They were staying away from you before then, remember?" Harold asked, and she sighed when she remembered how they had been avoiding her.

"You are right. So what did I do if I didn't hang out with them?" She asked, and then watched Harold distractedly pluck out a wild flower beside him. Instead of answering her question, he seemed engrossed in looking at it and pulling out the thorns. She was about to call out his name when he suddenly faced her and handed her the flower.

She was a little flustered but was touched by the gesture. With a soft "thanks," she received the flower from him and sniffed it. Bad move. She immediately withdrew it from her nose.

It smelled terrible. As hard as she tried not to show it, she couldn't help it.

"Is it bad?" He asked in a soft tone.

She forced a smile at him, but it didn't last for long because she sneezed.

Harold reached to grab the flower from her, but she quickly saved it and hid it behind her, refusing to give it to him while Alvin was trying hard not to laugh out loud.

He tried to cover his laughter with a cough again, but Harold's deadly glare sought him, and he immediately kept a straight face and turned around, walking farther away from there.

"I'll keep this," Alicia said as she hid the flower behind her, possessively, ignoring a frowning Harold.

"So tell me... what else did I do that day?" She asked, going back to the serious topic.

"You were in your chamber. I asked you to stay in, until I sent Alvin to you," Harold explained quietly.

"What did you send him to me for?"

"I wanted you to wait for Harvey and I at the pavilion. You said you wanted to speak to Harvey."

"About Princess Amber, right?" She asked, and Harold gave her a nod as he went on to tell her about the part of the discussion he had heard before he left.

"A witch?" Alicia asked, not sounding as surprised as she should be, and then her brows pulled together when it occurred to her that this wasn't news to her.

Although she had only just heard about it now from Harold, it seemed like she already knew about it. It wasn't exactly like she had a memory of talking to Harvey about it, but it seemed like a recent memory.

"Are you okay?" Harold asked when he noticed the way her brows were narrowed in concentration.

Alicia said nothing as she tried to focus on a memory. She could sense it was very close. It wasn't blocked like the rest of the memories of the banquet day. This seemed like a more recent memory.

"Blood moon."